Micro Fishing Floats

Micro fishing floats, to come right down to it, are basically just seriously small bobbers. They are nothing like the red and white plastic bobbers we all used as kids, and the Japanese ones designed for tanago fishing are nothing like the bobbers (er, indicators) we use as adults. They are much more sensitive so they will show the bite of even a very small fish.

Tanago Floats

The floats used for tanago fishing in Japan are small and thin, with a relatively small stem. Thread your line through plastic tube and then insert the stem of the float into the tube, locking the line in place.

If you choose to use one of the extremely light tippets shown on the Micro Fishing Line page, I'd recommend putting the markers, as well as the float, on a stronger line above the light tippet so if you do happen to hook an unexpectedly large fish or get your hook snagged you'll only lose the hook, not your whole rig.

You will need just a tiny bit of weight to get the float to sit properly, with just the tip of the float above water. Just one of the size 10 Dinsmore Micro Shot will work nicely

Owner Tanago Micro Fishing Floats - $5.50 (package of two)

Unibobbers

A while ago I was given some extremely small floats from Indonesia, but I have been unable to find a source so that I could carry them on the site. These aren't nearly as nice as the hand painted Indonesian floats, but I think they'll work just as nicely.

Made by the same company that makes the Thingamabobber, these basically just smaller versions of the popular fly fishing indicator. They are about 5/16" (6mm) in diameter and they are as sensitive as the tanago float above. They'll support one #10 or #8 Dinsmore shot, but it will take virtually nothing to take them under. They'll register the slightest tap from a fish. They're actually designed to help float a large fly, but I think they'll work as well - probably better - as a float for small fish.

They aren't fancy, but at $3 for a package of 6, you wouldn't expect them to be.

Unibobber $3 (package of 6)

Jintan Marker Beads

Although it takes relatively little pull to sink the float, tanago anglers use a set of beads on their line, under the float, that very quickly indicate when a fish takes the bait and swims to the side rather than down.

Of course, a fish swimming away would eventually pull the float to the side, but these beads show movement right away. They are called Jintan markers. Jintan is the name of an old type of breath freshener that came in little beads that these pretty closely resemble. The equivalent American name would be Tic-Tac markers, but these are much, much smaller than Tic-Tacs.

The Jintan markers I have in stock are little (about 2mm) rubber beads molded around a doubled length of thin mono. The photo below shows their size, but not how they are deployed.

The doubled line they are molded on has a loop at one end. You insert your line (that will run between your hook and your float) through that loop. Then slide the markers onto your line from the line they come on.

If you are using snelled hooks, slide the markers onto the snell line before you attach your float. You can have either the hook or the float already attached, but not both.

Jintan marker beads

The reason for that is after you slide the markers onto your line, your line will now be doubled where it goes through the markers. You'll have to pull one end of the line back through them and you won't be able to do that if you already have a hook on one end and a float on the other.

When in use, the markers should be spread out along the line below the float, not bunched together as they come in the package. You want to space them so that they will clearly show any sideways movement in the line. Combining micro fishing floats with Jintan markers will provide extremely sensitive indication of bites from even extremely small fish.

Jintan Marker Beads - $4.50 (package of 10)

Payment

Payment is through Paypal but you don't need to have a Paypal account. You can use your credit card. PayPal payments will be made to chris at tenkarabum dot com. Credit card statements will read CM Stewart.